Developing a new generation of collaborative scientists and citizens through popular media

该项目将侧重于了解媒体如何改善男孩和女孩对女性科学家和工程师的看法，并增加儿童对STEM中男女混合合作的理解。将开发和传播两种主要产品。第一集将是8集11分钟的热门儿童节目《埃莉诺不知道为什么》，该节目有1650万观众。这将作为一系列严谨研究的干预，并向观众播放，供公众使用和随后受益。第二个是基于游戏的“画一个科学家”评估，3-6岁的参与者和他们的照顾者将创建基于贴纸的场景，其中包括科学家或工程师在各种环境中“工作”的化身，以澄清幼儿对科学和工程的看法。该项目有可能通过模拟和庆祝STEM的混合性别协作工作来造福社会。该项目建立了对基于性别的STEM研究的认识和理解，并为未来探索青年对媒体的看法的影响提供了学习方法。该项目采用混合研究方法和迭代设计过程，涉及利益相关者、青少年及其成人监护人，以及大学教师、PBS台教育工作者和媒体开发人员之间的合作伙伴关系，以解决以下问题：儿童在多大程度上将科学视为一种性别职业？儿童及其照顾者如何看待科学领域的女性？孩子们认为科学是一个合作的过程吗？孩子们认为科学对社会很重要吗？第二项研究将包括(1)将游戏化评估嵌入到一个更大的《Elinor Wonders Why PBS》数字游戏中，(2)通过数字投掷转换将评估直接与媒体联系起来，以及(3)通过社交媒体、广播和流媒体传播将干预（情节）和评估（游戏）联系在一起的公众参与。第5类“支持广泛公众参与STEM的研究”项目由推进非正式STEM学习（AISL）计划资助，该计划支持以下项目：(a)有助于研究和实践，考虑非正式STEM学习在STEM公平和归属方面的作用；(b)促进个人和教育在STEM方面的成功；(c)促进公众参与科学发现；(d)培养对STEM职业的兴趣；(e)为有效的非正式STEM学习创造和加强理论和经验基础；(f)改善社区活力；及/或(g)加强科学传播和公众对STEM和STEM过程的参与和理解。该项目由推进非正式科学学习（AISL）和促进竞争性研究的既定计划（EPSCoR）共同资助。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project will focus on understanding how media can improve boys' and girls' perceptions of female scientists and engineers and increase children's understanding of mixed-gender collaborations in STEM. Two main products will be developed and disseminated. The first will be eight 11-minute episodes of the popular children's program, Elinor Wonders Why, which reaches 16.5 million viewers. This will be used as an intervention within a series of rigorous research studies and broadcast to audiences for public use and subsequent benefit. The second will be a game-based, Draw-a-Scientist, assessment in which 3-6 year old participants and their caregivers will create sticker-based scenes that include scientist or engineer avatars 'at work' in a variety of contexts in order to clarify young children's perceptions of science and engineering. This project has the potential to benefit society by modeling and celebrating mixed gender STEM collaborative work.The project builds knowledge and understanding on gender-based STEM research and provides learnings for future ways of exploring the impact of youth perceptions in media. The project uses mixed methods research and an iterative design process that involves stakeholders, youth and their adult caretakers, and partnerships among university faculty, PBS station educators, and media developers to address these questions: To what degree do children perceive science as a gendered occupation? How do children and their caregivers perceive women in science? Do children perceive science as a collaborative process? Do children perceive science as important to the community? A second study will include (1) embedding the gamified assessment into a larger Elinor Wonders Why PBS digital game, (2) linking the assessment directly to the media via a digital throw transition, and (3) disseminating the intervention (episode) and the assessment (game) linked together for public engagement through social media, broadcast, and streaming. This Type 5, Research in Support of Wide-reaching Public Engagement with STEM, project is funded by the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program, which supports projects that: (a) contribute to research and practice that considers informal STEM learning's role in equity and belonging in STEM; (b) promote personal and educational success in STEM; (c) advance public engagement in scientific discovery; (d) foster interest in STEM careers; (e) create and enhance the theoretical and empirical foundations for effective informal STEM learning; (f) improve community vibrancy; and/or (g) enhance science communication and the public's engagement in and understanding of STEM and STEM processes. This project is jointly funded by Advancing Informal Science Learning (AISL), and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.